


lights all aglow

by Duck_Life



Category: Uncanny X-Force, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Healing, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21954943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: Spiral and Ginny spend their first Christmas together as a family... or a team... or whatever it is they are.
Relationships: Rita Wayword & Ginny Guzman, Spiral & Ginny Guzman
Kudos: 6
Collections: X-Men Server Winter Gift X-Change





	lights all aglow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [annetippetarius](https://archiveofourown.org/users/annetippetarius/gifts).



Spiral traipses into the apartment, shedding her poncho on the coat rack and setting her shopping bags on the coffee table. “You’re watching that asinine movie again?” she asks Ginny. 

“It’s like a different movie every time,” Ginny explains, sitting forward on the couch with her elbows on her knees and her hands beneath her chin, a fleece blanket tucked around her shoulders. “Sometimes I focus on Colin Firth and the lady who doesn’t talk any English, sometimes I focus on the guy from ‘Taken’ and his kid, sometimes—”

“Yes, yes, alright,” Spiral sighs. Movies shouldn’t have so many complicated, intertwined timelines and storylines. It makes them too much like real life. 

She sinks against the couch cushions, clicking on the heating pad propped up behind her shoulder blades. Recently, she’s been experiencing more back pain than usual. It’s irritating, sure, but in a way she relishes it. The reality of it, the way that all her aches and pains make her feel more like a person and less like a pixelated picture on a screen. 

Ginny scooches closer, trying to get in on some of the heading pad herself. Spiral’s going to have to buy her one for Christmas. For now, she carefully wraps two arms around Ginny and lets the girl curl into her side. 

  
  


They watch “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” followed by “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year.” 

“You ever seen ‘Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July’?” Ginny asks, grabbing another handful of caramel corn. “It’s wild. This evil ringmaster guy… or something, he tricks Rudolph into using his nose for evil purposes. And, like, when he tries to use his magic for ‘impure motives,’ it stops working.”

“Hmm,” Spiral muses, looking at the reindeer on the screen. “I know somebody like that.” 

  
  


“Did you know that depression increases during the holiday season?” Ginny asks nonchalantly one evening. She’s in the middle of using glitter glue to write her name on a red-and-white stocking. The one she made for Spiral sits beside her, drying. “I figured the other people in our building might be, ya know, suffering from the ‘Christmas blues,’ so… I’ve kinda sorta been ‘influencing’ them.”

Spiral whips her head to stare at her. “Ginny.”

“I’m not going overboard, I promise,” Ginny says quickly, looking up from her glitter glue. “I’m not, like, controlling anyone or anything, I swear. Just… trying to send out good vibes, you know? Keep everyone thinking happy thoughts and feeling good about themselves and each other.” 

Spiral still looks somewhat disapproving. 

“Isn’t that what Christmas is about?” Ginny argues. “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men? Which is kind of sexist. Why no goodwill toward women?” 

“Just… don’t overdo it,” Spiral warns with a sigh.

“Because you don’t someone to find out and get mad?”

Spiral sits down across the table from Ginny, chewing her lip. “No,” she says carefully, “because controlling people’s emotions, even when you have good intentions, is… questionable. You know. Ethically.” 

Ginny gives her a strange look. It’s not a line of reasoning she’s used to hearing from Spiral. “Okay.” 

“Like I said, don’t overdo it,” Spiral says. “I think that… a little bit is okay.” She seems to deliberate a moment, and then she leans forward and pats Ginny’s hand. 

  
  
  


Spiral wakes up one morning to Ginny shouting, and her thoughts race into too many different directions— it’s the Revenants or it’s Mojo or it’s some anti-mutant hate group here to hurt her and haul her away. Spiral’s out in the hall with four swords drawn before she realizes Ginny had been shouting with  _ delight _ . 

“Look at all this,” Ginny cries, surveying the bounty laid out on the kitchen table. “The Edible Arrangements guy just came by to deliver it.” She grabs a chocolate-dipped slice of pineapple made to look like a Christmas tree. “Best day  _ ever _ .” As she prepares to take a bite, one of Spiral’s arms darts out and grabs her by the wrist. 

“ _ Don’t _ ,” she warns. “It could be poisoned. Who even knows we’re here?” 

“I dunno,” Ginny shrugs. “Read the card.” 

There’s a small card attached to the tray. The gingerbread man on the front of the card grins garishly up at her. Scowling, Spiral snatches the card and flips it open. 

_ Spiral— _

_ Thanks so much for everything. Hope you have a very merry Christmas.  _

_ — Rogue _

“Lemme see,” Ginny insists, taking the card from her. She whistles. “Since when are you buds with the X-Men?” 

“I… helped Rogue out with something, recently,” Spiral mumbles, looking down at all the assorted fruit gleaming in front of her. “I certainly didn’t expect  _ this _ .”

“Okay, so, the X-Men are good guys, though, right?” Ginny points out. “So… we can eat this?”

“It’s more probable that if someone were trying to kill either of us, they wouldn’t have done it with a poisoned gift basket we may or may not eat. More likely, the delivery boy would have attempted to incapacitate us,” Spiral reasons.

“So. We can eat this?”

She sighs. “Yes, I suppose.” 

Ginny takes a bite of the pineapple-tree, smiles, savors it. “This is  _ so _ good. Spiral, Spiral, you gotta try some of this.”

“I’m not really a chocolate person—”

“Try it try it try it,” Ginny says. She’s a convincing debater. Spiral carefully selects a circular apple slice decorated to look like a wreath. 

It’s delicious. 

  
  
  


Spiral adds a dollop of icing to her gingerbread roof so she can attach a purple gumdrop to the sugary shingle. Beside her, Ginny lines up marshmallow snowmen along the sweet siding of her own gingerbread house. 

“Ginny…” Spiral says, pausing with her hand in the gumdrop bag, “I know I told you it was okay to ‘cheer up’ the other people in our building, but I’d rather you didn’t use your power on me.” 

Ginny stares at her blankly. “I don’t know what you mean,” she says, popping a marshmallow in her mouth. 

“Your mutation,” Spiral says. “The feelings of affection, belonging and… and  _ contentedness  _ that you’re projecting at me?”

Ginny returns to her gingerbread house, looking amused. “I’m not doing anything, Spiral.” 

  
  
  


Spiral wakes up Christmas morning to find the most hideous holiday sweater in creation draped over a chair at the kitchen table. Knitted reindeer chew on beaded candy canes against a blue-and-white striped pattern. 

And there are six arms. 

"Merry Christmas" Ginny says, poking her head over the top of the couch. "I had to cannibalize three tacky sweaters to make one for you." She herself is wearing a plaid-patterned sweater vest with teddy bears in Santa hats on it. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, Virginia," Spiral says, and she is  _ not  _ about to cry. She's not. "I like it very much."


End file.
